Plateau crises political, say Sultan, Oritsejafor

By Etop Ekanem, Wahab Abdulla & Monsur Olowoopejo
THE Sultan of Sokoto and President General of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, Alhaji Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, and President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, have agreed that the persistent crises in Jos, the Plateau State capital, are political, with a heavy dose of religious colouration.

The duo, who are Co-Chairmen of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council, NIREC, spoke at a World press conference tagged: “A new beginning” a longside Prof. Is-haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, National Coordinator/Executive Secretary, in Lagos, yesterday.

According to them, “the recent crisis in Jos is political but has a very strong dose of religious colouration. There are politicians in this country who understand the weakness of Nigerians. They know the areas where people react very easily. It is very difficult to differentiate between both factors. There are politicians who do not want election in the country, so they will do anything to stop the upcoming election.

The indications are visible because some of them are trying to make the country ungovernable so that other things can occur to complicate the problem of Nigeria. It is true that lives had been lost but we still believe the solution is not violence; because previous perpetrators were not brought to book, that is the reason the crisis has kept on recurring.

The group appealed to the Federal Government to compensate those who lost their loved ones and property to the crises as this would assure them that they have a government that is caring.

The Council called on the relevant authorities to fish out the perpetrators of the dastardly act and bring them to book without further delay, to serve as a deterrence to others who might be planning any of such devilish thing in future.”